Good Books

[Krillin]

Explaining it would ruin it.

Just read it. It's like Animal Farm. It could be taken as just a neat little story, but if you bother to dig deep into it, there's all sorts of good stuff. I read it at least once a year.

[Tobias]

Its a real easy book, but easy =/= bad. Like Kril said it has layers.

[Kami]

Very entertaining book, although not for the youngins

"The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists" by Neil Strauss

[Krillin]

Originally posted by Garlic Jr
Like Kril said it has layers.

Like ogres and onions.

[Ruhiel]

"Ender's Shadow," "Shadow of the Hegemon" and "Shadow Puppets," all by Orson Scott Card, are very good reads. Granted, it's best if you've read "Ender's Game" first before reading those 3, but nonetheless, they are very good in terms of psychology and morality concerning science and politics. Pay attention to something called "Anton's Key" in those 3.

Also, pretty much all of the "Net Force" books by Tom Clancy are good, along with "Rainbox Six." Though those are more just fun to read than anything.

Michael Crichton novels are always extremely good. Pick up his latest one, "Next," whenever you can. It's very different from his other stories, but he was trying to make a point more than tell a story.

"Crime and Punishment" by Dostoevsky is still a big favorite of mine as well.

[Nappa]

Crime and Punishment. I love that book.

[Spencinator]

>_> I guess the only thing in the media I could compare the Giver to is Pleasantville. Both have two different plots, but the setting is somewhat similar. If you've never seen Pleasantville, here's a link to it's Wiki page.

[Dehan]

Originally posted by Grandpa Gohan
I've made this thread AT LEAST twice.

The Redwall Series.

Read it, its a good series of books, and definitely my favorite. :]

Dude...you just went to number one in my book. Redwall rocked! Man I miss reading those when I was sent to ISS god...I've got the nerve to order the series when I get some cash.

[Jinpo]

I just finished reading The Stranger by Albert Camus. I loved it. It is an existentialist novel, so you will see a different way to look at life. You probably won't change your thinking at all but I enjoyed the book.

[Bojack]

Originally posted by Android 20
"Ender's Shadow," "Shadow of the Hegemon" and "Shadow Puppets," all by Orson Scott Card, are very good reads. Granted, it's best if you've read "Ender's Game" first before reading those 3, but nonetheless, they are very good in terms of psychology and morality concerning science and politics. Pay attention to something called "Anton's Key" in those 3.

Also, pretty much all of the "Net Force" books by Tom Clancy are good, along with "Rainbox Six." Though those are more just fun to read than anything.

Michael Crichton novels are always extremely good. Pick up his latest one, "Next," whenever you can. It's very different from his other stories, but he was trying to make a point more than tell a story.

"Crime and Punishment" by Dostoevsky is still a big favorite of mine as well.

I won't return to the Ender universe. I read Ender's Game when I was 18, pretty much 8 years too late, and didn't think it was that great. It wasn't meant for children, but the prose was very similar to Goosebumps and Animorphs. >.>

I tried to read Timeline by Michale Crichton once. I won't be trying to finish it, or any other Crichton novel anytime soon.

I am working my way up to Dostoevsky. I have the feeling I would be to stupid to understand The Brother Karazmov, and that's keeping me reading other stuff. I plan to read it and his others though.

[Aero]

Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell

The Dark Tower I by Stephen King

The Stalker by Stephen King

The Shining by Stephen King

Lestat by Anne Rice

Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice

The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice

Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice











And of course I am a fan of my own work, Krillin's bit of writing on Chubbs, Recoome's work as Gaara on FoF, and a few others here. =D

[Downy Peach]

Originally posted by Bojack


William Gibson > Stephen King

/public service announcement

Nope, that isn't a public service announcement. That's your belief. Two completely different things. Your attempt at persuading people by using keyboard symbols won't dig you out of that hole either, sorry.

EDIT: Yes! Dark Tower series is amazing.

[Kirano]

Originally posted by Bulma
Of Mice & Men - John Steinbeck
Voyage in the Dark - Jean Rhys
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S Lewis
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Visitor - Maeve Brennan
The Woodlanders - Thomas Hardy
Gulliver Travel's - Jonathan Swift ( Loved this book as a child. The first I read which inspired me)
Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare
A midsummer's Nights dream - William Shakespeare
Much Ado about Nothin - William Shakespeare
Romeo & Juliet - William Shakespeare
A room with a view - E.M. Foster

I got new reads to add to that list:

The Ice people - Miggie Gee (she came down to my university to talk about her book recently)

Uncle Rudolf - Paul Bailey (my university creative writing tutor)

[Bojack]

The Gunslinger was amazing. The Dark Tower series would have been a lot better if it stuck to the formula of book one. I quit the whole thing halfway through Wizard and Glass. Other people like it... idk, it branched out to far from what initially drew me in. That really frustrated me... I was waiting two books' worth for Roland to have another Tull or drug kingpin shootout. It didn't happen. =(

William Gibson is better than King in my opinion. His prose is beautiful (by far the best I have read) and his characters seem more complex than Kings. Like I told Gokua, William Gibson = Stephen King x 3. Since I read Neuromancer and Pattern Recognition, I haven't had any desire to read anything by Stephen King.

I read The Great Gatsby pretty much annually. Of that era (Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald) Fitzgerald is my favorite. Of Mice and Men was great. Steinbeck's other stuff really piss me off though. I tried like 3 times to read The Grapes of Wrath all the way through... I couldn't do it.

[Downy Peach]

I can't fault The Dark Tower series at all, Roland was a terrific character. I can also easily say that if you didn't finish Wizard and Glass, you're not really fit to judge the series as a whole. I'm not being belligerent, but if you're a serious reader, then you should really know that you can't miss out an ending just because you aren't content with the first half of the book. I'll say no more.

Oh, and by looking at his list, I'm more than certain Baron agreed.

Anyone read The Time Traveler's Wife? I'm just about to pick it up tommorow, and I'm just wondering on whether it's worth the notes.

[Bojack]

Originally posted by Kollifum the II
I can't fault The Dark Tower series at all, Roland was a terrific character. I can also easily say that if you didn't finish Wizard and Glass, you're not really fit to judge the series as a whole. I'm not being belligerent, but if you're a serious reader, then you should really know that you can't miss out an ending just because you aren't content with the first half of the book. I'll say no more.

Oh, and by looking at his list, I'm more than certain Baron agreed.

Anyone read The Time Traveler's Wife? I'm just about to pick it up tommorow, and I'm just wondering on whether it's worth the notes.

It's just one of those things where you find someone better at it, and that author becomes mind numbing to read. I used to love James Patterson, and then I discovered Stephen King. After that, I couldn't read any of Patterson's stuff (literally COULDN'T). Then I discovered William Gibson, and Stephen King got boring. Same thing with Vonnegut and Palahniuk... Fight Club was amazing, as was Choke, but Vonnegut is better at the style and so I can't really read Palahniuk anymore.

Back to King/Gibson, there is only room for one narrator with good prose and plot in my interests. First it was Patterson, then I upgraded to King, now I have upgraded to Gibson. Gibson is fucking awesome, btw. If you haven't read Neuromancer then you need to do it.

PS: I plan on reading The Stand one day. And maybe Cell. But other than that, eh, I've read enough King.

[Downy Peach]

Different writing styles lead to different successions. I wouldn't expect everyman and his dog to enjoy King's work. If that's where your appetite lies, who am I to judge?

My dad has Neuromancer in the loft. I've read New Rose Hotel and Hinterlands in Burning Chrome, but it wasn't enough for me to pull away from King. I think the first novel I read of his was It, and ever since I've been captivated.

[Kirano]

I'm a sucker for a novel with two or more storylines.

[Bojack]

Originally posted by Bulma
I'm a sucker for a novel with two or more storylines.

Those rawk. Milan Kundera for me, especially. He also has a tendency to have every character pair up and have sex in the same chapter. It's great.

One of the characters in his Farewell Waltz was a gynecologist that injected his infertile patients with his semen unsuspectingly. All throughout the book there are children with a big ass nose like his, but other people think they are the father. Pwnage.

@Kollifum: Read Neuromancer. I'm not sure if you have soured your tastes from him by having read those stories, but take my word for it. The book kicks ass. He crafts the most beautiful sentences I have ever seen. I'm assuming you haven't read it already?

[Kirano]

Originally posted by Bojack

Originally posted by Bulma
I'm a sucker for a novel with two or more storylines.

Those rawk. Milan Kundera for me, especially. He also has a tendency to have every character pair up and have sex in the same chapter. It's great.

I'll have to check him out.